*powder*

v. t. To sprinkle or cover with powder; to powder. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ From Dr. Dover, an English physician. ] (Med.) A powder of ipecac and opium, compounded, in the United States, with sugar of milk, but in England (as formerly in the United States) with sulphate of potash, and in France (as in Dr. Dover's original prescription) with nitrate and sulphate of potash and licorice. It is an anodyne diaphoretic. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ So called from Goa, on the Malabar coast, whither it was shipped from Portugal. ] A bitter powder (also called araroba) found in the interspaces of the wood of a Brazilian tree (Andira araroba) and used as a medicine. It is the material from which chrysarobin is obtained. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) A black, granular, explosive substance, consisting of an intimate mechanical mixture of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulphur. It is used in gunnery and blasting. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Gunpowder consists of from 70 to 80 per cent of potassium nitraate (niter, saltpeter), with 10 to 15 per cent of each of the other ingredients. Its explosive energy is due to the fact that it contains the necessary amount of oxygen for its own combustion, and liberates gases (chiefly nitrogen and carbon dioxide), which occupy a thousand or fifteen hundred times more space than the powder which generated them. [ 1913 Webster ]

Gunpowder pile driver, a pile driver, the hammer of which is thrown up by the explosion of gunpowder. --
Gunpowder plot (Eng. Hist.), a plot to destroy the King, Lords, and Commons, in revenge for the penal laws against Catholics. As Guy Fawkes, the agent of the conspirators, was about to fire the mine, which was placed under the House of Lords, he was seized, Nov. 5, 1605. Hence, Nov. 5 is known in England as
Guy Fawkes Day. --
Gunpowder tea, a species of fine green tea, each leaf of which is rolled into a small ball or pellet. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Med.) Antimonial powder, first prepared by Dr. James, an English physician; -- called also fever powder. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Lit., dustyfoot, i. e., dusty-footed dealers, fr. F. pied foot + poudreux dusty. ] (O. Eng. Law) An ancient court of record in England, formerly incident to every fair and market, of which the steward of him who owned or had the toll was the judge. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. poudre, pouldre, F. poudre, OF. also poldre, puldre, L. pulvis, pulveris: cf. pollen fine flour, mill dust, E. pollen. Cf. Polverine, Pulverize. ] 1. The fine particles to which any dry substance is reduced by pounding, grinding, or triturating, or into which it falls by decay; dust. [ 1913 Webster ]

Grind their bones to powder small. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An explosive mixture used in gunnery, blasting, etc.; gunpowder. See Gunpowder. [ 1913 Webster ]

Atlas powder,
Baking powder, etc. See under Atlas, Baking, etc. --
Powder down (Zool.), the peculiar dust, or exfoliation, of powder-down feathers. --
Powder-down feather (Zool.), one of a peculiar kind of modified feathers which sometimes form patches on certain parts of some birds. They have a greasy texture and a scaly exfoliation. --
Powder-down patch (Zool.), a tuft or patch of powder-down feathers. --
Powder hose, a tube of strong linen, about an inch in diameter, filled with powder and used in firing mines. Farrow. --
Powder hoy (Naut.), a vessel specially fitted to carry powder for the supply of war ships. They are usually painted red and carry a red flag. --
Powder magazine, or
Powder room. See Magazine, 2. --
Powder mine, a mine exploded by gunpowder. See Mine. --
Powder monkey (Naut.), a boy formerly employed on war vessels to carry powder; a powder boy. --
Powder post. See Dry rot, under Dry. --
Powder puff. See Puff, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Powdered p. pr. & vb. n. Powdering. ] [ F. poudrer. ] 1. To reduce to fine particles; to pound, grind, or rub into a powder; to comminute; to pulverize; to triturate. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To sprinkle with powder, or as with powder; to be sprinkle; as, to powder the hair. [ 1913 Webster ]

A circling zone thou seest
Powdered with stars. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To sprinkle with salt; to corn, as meat. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To be reduced to powder; to become like powder; as, some salts powder easily. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To use powder on the hair or skin; as, she paints and powders. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Reduced to a powder; sprinkled with, or as with, powder. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Sprinkled with salt; salted; corned. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Powdered beef, pickled meats. Harvey. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Her.) Same as Semé. Walpole. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A flask in which gunpowder is carried, having a charging tube at the end. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A horn in which gunpowder is carried. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. from Powder, v. t. [ 1913 Webster ]

Powdering tub. (a) A tub or vessel in which meat is corned or salted. (b) A heated tub in which an infected lecher was placed for cure. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A mill in which gunpowder is made. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Affected with dry rot; reduced to dust by rot. See Dry rot, under Dry. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Easily crumbling to pieces; friable; loose; as, a powdery spar. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Sprinkled or covered with powder; dusty; as, the powdery bloom on plums. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Resembling powder; consisting of powder. “The powdery snow.” Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A high-explosive gunpowder whose explosion produces little, if any, smoke. It is usually based on guncotton (nitrocellulose). [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]